Social Links

Biography

Adele (born Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, May 5, 1988) is an English singer songwriter from West Norwood, South London. She is the first artist to sell more than three million copies of an album in one year in the United Kingdom. In 2011 she became the first living artist to achieve the feat of two Top 5 hits simultaneously on both the U.K. Official Singles chart and the Official Albums chart since The Beatles in 1964.

Adele is the first artist in history to lead the Billboard 200 Albums chart concurrently with three #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart. Adele is also the first female artist to have three singles in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time, and the first female artist to simultaneously have two albums in the Top 5 of the Billboard 200 and two singles in the Top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100.

Adele attracted the attention of XL Recordings with a three-song demo posted on MySpace and subsequently signed with the label. Her first studio album, “19,” debuted at #1, and has been certified platinum in the U.K. In the U.S., “19” debuted at #56 and remained in the lower end of the Billboard 200 Albums chart for many weeks. After a performance on “Saturday Night Live” it rose to #46 and a week later to #11. In 2009, after winning two Grammy Awards, the album rose to a new peak of #10 on the Billboard 200 and the album was certified gold by the RIAA. The album was nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize in the category of Best Album. It spawned four Grammy Award nominations for which she won in two categories, Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 2009.

She released her first #1 hit in the U.S., “Rolling in the Deep,” in November 2010 from her second album, “21.” Released in January 2011 in the U.K. and February in the U.S., the album debuted at #1 on the U.K. Albums chart and debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. The single “Someone Like You,” became her first #1 single in the U.K. after her performance at the 2011 BRIT Awards caused a surge in sales, while the album also remained at #1.

The Official Charts Company announced that Adele became the first living artist to achieve the feat of two Top 5 hits on both the U.K. Singles chart and the U.K. Albums chart simultaneously since The Beatles in 1964. She is also the only British singer to simultaneously have an album at #1 in both the U.S. and the U.K. With her third release from the album, “Set Fire to the Rain,” becoming her third #1 single in the U.S., Adele became the first artist in history to lead the Billboard 200 concurrently with three Billboard Hot 100 #1 hits. “21” helped Adele earn six Grammy Awards in 2012 including Album of the Year, equaling the record for most Grammy Awards won by a female artist in one night.